, July 2004 edition, published a special report “InMemoriam Hamid Jabbar”. His colleagues and close friends like Taufiq Ismail, EmhaAinun Nadjib, Cecep Syamsul Hari, Rahman Arge, Berthold Damshauser, Wilson Nadeak, and Slamet Sukirnanto wrote their notes on the obituary of the late poet who was born in Koto Gadang, Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, on July 27, 1949. It is a bit strange thathis poems were not included nor discussed in Harry Aveling’s

(1999) [TheMagic of Rendra: Playing with Meanings]. However, his works had been published in

Horison Sastra Indonesia: Kitab Puisi

(2003) [The Horizon of Indonesian Poetries] and

Ketika Kata Ketika Warna

(1995) [When Words When Colors] which he edited together with Taufiq Ismail and other poets.I don’t really know why Hamid Jabbar’s poems were not discussed by HarryAveling, who analyzed Indonesian poetries in the New Order era with political perspective. Yet, in 1998 Hamid Jabbar published an anthology called

Super Hilang:Segerobak Sajak

[Super Disappearing: A Bunch of Poems], which had won awards fromYayasan Buku Utama and Pusat Bahasa. The social criticism loaded in that anthology isrelatively sharp, like in “Proklamasi 2” or “Indonesiaku”. There are two possibilities whyHarry Aveling did not discuss Hamid Jabbar’s works. First, he didn’t have access toHamid Jabbar’s poems. Second, the poems did not fulfill his literary taste.

Was Hamid Jabbar not an important poet? Was he just an ordinary poet? If we ask that kind of question to K.H. A. Mustofa Bisri, perhaps he will not pay any attention,since he never cares for such a question. But, if we consider Hamid Jabbar’s intensity andtotality in writing poetry, we will see that for this “Bola Bekel” writing poetry was achoice of life. Just like when he and Rendra enjoyed their meals in a restaurant by theriver in Palangkaraya, in April 2004. When his diabetes relapsed, and worried hiscolleagues, he simply said, “

” [“Don’t worry about myhealth. If I have to die, I want to die either in front of Ka’bah in Mecca or on the stagereading poetry’].Forty five days later, he died on the stage while reading his poetry at UniversitasIslam Negeri (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta. God heard his words and fulfilled hiswish. On Saturday night, May 29, 2004, Hamid Jabbar, Jamal D. Rahman, Franz Magnis-Suseno, Putu Wijaya, and Franky Sahilatua performed together having orations, reading poetries and singing songs at UIN. When Franky’s turn to sing came, Hamid Jabbar asked the program committee to be allowed to read his poetries first. “I promise, after reading poetries I will really go home,” said Hamid Jabbar as reported by Agus R.Sarjono to Berthold Damshauser. And while reading poetries, he really “went home’. Hedied reading his poetries, one of which said, “